The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Donetsk judges are ready to repudiate the claim to the European Court, if pay arrears would be recompensed to them

37 judges of the Appeal court of the Donetsk oblast, who turned to the European Court of human rights in Strasbourg in the connection with pay arrears and violation of their right for fair court, are ready to repudiate the claim to the European Court, if pay arrears would be recompensed to them. The situation, when judges have to bring a suit against their state, is absurd and shameful for any civilized country. Yet, the actions of the judges are quite correct, since nothing would change if nothing would be done.

On Thursday the term has expired established by the European Court for presentation to the court and claimants of the written explanation on the attitude of the state to the claim of the judges of the Appeal court of the Donetsk oblast.

According to the information got from the Donetsk Appeal court, such explanation has not been obtained. At the same time, the negotiations were held in Donetsk between the judges, representatives of the Supreme Court and Judicial administration of Ukraine. Karaban, the head of the latter agency, visited Donetsk with the special mission – to intimidate the judges. When Karaban understood that he could not intimidate the plaintiffs, he began to promise them every they wanted, but only in some vague future.

One of the Donetsk judges informed that the administration of the Supreme Court of Ukraine had promised to the claimants that the state would recompense them the pay arrears very soon. The judges are ready to repudiate their claim only after the complete payment of the debts (here one can see that nobody trusts in the words of state officials).

«If we would get the money, we would write the application about that. We will not demand the compensation of the moral damage from the state», said judge Mykhaylo Gorshkov to a correspondent of the agency «Interfax». By his words, three days ago the group of judges of the Donetsk Appeal court sent to Strasbourg the additional claim «on the compensation of moral damage». Yet, they are ready to withdraw all demands if the state would pay them their money.

The state owes to the judges the salary for about 10 months (this debt accumulated during 1999-2001). The judges had already turned to the Pecherskiy district court of Kyiv with the claim against the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. The court recognized that their demands were rightful and resolved to collect the debt from the Ministry of Finance for benefit of the judges. Yet, the Ministry did not fulfill the court decision.

In January the European Court accepted the claim of 37 judges of the Donetsk Appeal court. This case has the highest priority and will be considered as soon as possible.